Scoot aims to fly to five cities, including locations in China and Japan, by year end

SINGAPORE - Scoot, the budget wing of Singapore Airlines, plans to fly to at least five cities by the end of the year as the group adds low-cost long-haul services to compete with Jetstar and AirAsia X. Scoot intends to announce destinations in China and Japan, chief executive officer Campbell Wilson, 40, said in a Feb 17 Bloomberg interview in Singapore. The carrier, which is due to start flights in June or July, has already said it will fly to Sydney and the Gold Coast in Australia. Singapore Airlines is forming Scoot after low-cost carriers won 26 per cent of travellers at its Changi Airport home, contributing to waning load factors and declining earnings. The carrier's passenger numbers rose 1.3 per cent last year, trailing an 11-per-cent surge for Changi. SIA, the world's second-largest carrier by market value, filled 77 per cent of seats last month, a 1.1-percentage-...